Sanctions against Venezuelan broadcasters

We issued the following statement today in response to the announcement that regulators will soon revoke the broadcast concessions of 29 private radio stations and opened a sixth administrative procedure against private broadcaster Globovisión...

“The imminent closure of 29 private radio stations is a clear indication that Venezuelan regulators are using arbitrary and discriminatory criteria to punish outlets that do not share the government’s viewpoint,” said CPJ’s Americas senior program coordinator, Carlos Lauría. “We are also concerned about the new administrative procedure against Globovisión, which the government opened after accusing the network of inciting rebellion for allegedly airing a viewer’s text message calling for a coup. This investigation –like the other five opened against Globovisión in a six-month period- is an overly aggressive response that is part of a campaign targeting the critical network. We urge authorities to stop targeting private media for their critical coverage.”